The Reign of Terror was an extremely violent period during the French Revolution. It began shortly after the French Revolution began. The Reign of Terror started on 5 September 1793 and ended on 28 July 1794. Some historians believe that the Reign of Terror started in March or June when the Revolutionary Tribunal was created. Some historians believe the beginning of the Reign of Terror was even earlier when the September Massacres occurred in 1792. Others believe the beginning of the Reign of Terror to be on July 1789, when the first killing of the revolution happened.
The Reign of Terror began when the National Convention (the government) put into effect terror measures to subdue the opposition and punish insufficient support for the new regime and the French Revolution efforts. During the Reign of Terror, thousands of people were imprisoned and executed under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre. Maximilien Robespierre had also executed the Queen during the Reign of Terror. The guillotine was the bloody emblem of the fear tactics used during the Reign of Terror, as it was the object used when executing the opposition of the revolution. "The guillotine, particularly the one in Paris's Place de la Révolution, served as the bloody emblem of the fear tactics that began to manifest themselves first in the formation of the Committee of Public Safety (6 April 1793) and subsequently in the implementation of the Law of Suspects (17 September 1793)." (Piccitto) The end of the Reign of Terror was marked by the overthrowing of Maximilien Robespierre. He was executed with the guillotine, the symbol of his bloody leadership.
The term "terror" was used to describe the period before the fall of Maximilien Robespierre. It was a term that was first introduced by the Thermidorian Reaction, which took over and received power after the death of Maximilien Robespierre. They used the word to discredit and justify the execution of Robespierre. Some historians believe that the bold and ruthless actions that took place during the Reign of Terror continued after the death of Robespierre and have coined the period as the White Terror. "By then, 16,594 official death sentences had been dispensed throughout France since June 1793, of which 2,639 were in Paris alone; and an additional 10,000 died in prison, without trial, or under both of these circumstances." (Linton)
The French Revolution was viewed with optimism and horror by the British. Many political figures and romanticists supported the revolution, like Edmund Burke. However, "Burke's rejection of the bloodshed in France was later published in his Reflections on the Revolution in France, which sparked a fierce debate during the 1790s regarding the outcome of the Reign of Terror across the channel. Though many political groups continued to take inspiration from the actions of the sans-culottes, others like Burke predicted chaos and turmoil should Britain follow a similar revolutionary route. Such responses resulted in strict measures imposed by Prime Minister William Pitt in the 1790s, designed to stem any criticism of the government and to curb the activities of political radicals." (Paris by Express on Saturday Morning)
The Reign of Terror was an important period for the Romantics, as it inspired many literary and artistic artworks that were created during the Romantic Period. As the Reign of Terror was influenced by the Enlightenment Period, the Romantic, in turn, rejected much of the Enlightenment ideals.
Work Cited
“Paris. (By Express on Saturday Evening.)'.” British Library, https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/newspaper-account-of-the-outbreak-of….
“Reign of Terror.” BRANCH, https://www.branchcollective.org/?ps_event=reign-of-terror.